BASP #5 2016

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Bay Area racers headed to Vallejo California for the fifth and final installment of the Bay Area Super Prestige series. With rain on the radar, local racers looked forward to ending the season in a different weather pattern then the season started in, a dry hot, dustbowl. Derek and I jumped out of the van, and grabbed a few warm-up laps before the elite Men’s A’s got on corse. The following photo essay was shot on November 19th 2016, and celebrate the details from the day.

Menlo Velo bringing the mud and blood bright and early. Giro sent the team some custom Synthe helmets for the race season. This lean helmet has felt the best, of everything we have raced in over the years. Lean cut, not bulky. Minimal pads to wash, tons of airflow, while still feeling covered when the rain comes down.
This Belgian family knew how to interact with the racers.Eddy in a chicken wingStoker detailsLast race of the series means packing the race numbers and timing chips away till next season. Let’s make this one special.I like making these mask portraits. Some things never change, including changing.Eddy built up this Work frame prototype, and raced it for the first time. It has a makeshift nylon front brake, and the rear is mounted under the seat stays.
Murphy Mack must be ready for a break after promoting eight races this cyclocross season.

Peanut butter mud lined the course, a rare condition in the Bay Area.

In the Bay Area, there is always a stars and stripes jersey somewhere in the lineup.


Derek, Rainier, and Ryan fighting for the holeshot.
Ritchey Megabite tires digging into the dry duff on an off camber turn. Light and dry dirt under trees was sticking to wet mud on other parts of the course, essentially gluing the mud to the bikes.

Brandon at the top of the course, after a tough climb on his Mash SS.

Sean making himself comfortable.

Slippery grass made the tough climbs all the more difficult and decisive.

The uphill and muddy barriers were no match for Derek.
Neutral SupportHeckler
Eddy racing in his first Elite SS race, and learned what that extra 15 minutes felt like.

Derek chased the podium all day, never outside of eyesight.

Cubby making it look easy, while trying to bounce mud off the bike at each barrier.

Rainier not making it look easy.

Spokesman definitely making it look very difficult.

Stigmata frames with Enve/Chris King/Ritchey/Sella Italia can be built up to be under 17 lbs.

A light rain began to fall mid-way through the race, making the course all the more precipitous.

Ritchey Megabite tires digging into what little traction there was on this climb.

Rainier and Derek chasing Andy Jacques-Maynes and Murray Swanson down the finishing straight.

SSCX crusher, the Vallejo course is a good one for Kell McKenzie.
Selle Italia is supporting the team, and loving the new shapes.Brandon has given his all this season, and this smile shows me what the Bay Area CX season is truly made of. Ear to ear.

Photos: Mike Martin

Words: Rainier Schaefer

GIRO CX TEAM SYNTHE

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While in Santa Rosa, Derek shot some photos of the new Giro Synthe Team helmet on Rainier. This design will not make it to production, but look for them at the races!

LION OF FAIRFAX 2016

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Set in the foothills of Mt. Tamalpais, The Lion of Fairfax was back at the local middle school campus. With the year’s first real rain, the stage was set for some mildly wet/muddy cyclocross racing. Chelsea, Derek, Dylan, Eddy, and Rainier came out to race with the Bay Area community. This photo series was shot on 10-15-2016, and include some notes/thoughts from the races.Gabe went to school here, so for years, we called this race the Lion of Gabe’s middle school.Frank is a force of radness behind the scenes. Thanks FrankI laughed when I saw this “epic” mud shot in my selected images. Really playing up that one time it rained for us in 2016.The school campus is really beautiful, set among dry grass hills and native trees at the edge of town where some of the most famous singletrack in the world begins. Team Vive La TarteChelsea <<<Quill-stemmed OM Flyer set up like a beach cruiser. Quickly, these races get strung out. Chelsea sat 3rd wheel for laps.Cool Marin Hippie mural doubling as a wind tunnel illustration.The hecklers staked out this ride up waiting to see who would slip up.It was a toe spikes day. Yay!Chelsea held on to 3rd for the day in the Elite Women’s field.The SuperPro vibe is about stoke foremost and a lack of formality is part of the format.Wind can also play a factor in cross.Rainer DerekMtbers heard the call.Brandon, Jimmy, and Dylan launched the hole shot.We are so stoked on how the team bikes and kits came together. Thank you to the sponsors, and Al for doodling it up!Dylan rode up these steps later in the race.This part of the course was under constant repairs as riders blew it here.Cone zoneDerek handling the back set of barriers.Basketball courts, Soccer fields, and a Baseball diamond all made up the race course on this day.Brandon moving up (with a rear flat) finishing 2nd in the SS A’s.Rainier broke a spoke in the first lap. With no pit wheels, he had a couple hours to study for the GRE.Dylan set up some Ritchey Tires tubeless and was able to finish in the SS As, winning the group.Several scratchable dogs on course.The hecklers brought their best psych-outs.The ruling on handups… YES!They don’t do that in Europe. Do they?The wind brought barrier tape into the path of the racers. Some finished sooner then they had hoped.

Photos: Mike Martin

Words: Brandon Reif

SANTA CRUZ FOR MASH CX STIGMATA

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We are excited to launch a new collaboration with Santa Cruz Bicycles. We are long time fans of this local brand, and the cult following of the first Stigmata frame sets. Santa Cruz supports our cyclocross team, and wanted to create a special paint on the Stigmata CC. We enlisted Al Nelson, and drew inspiration from some of the bold graphics used on emergency vehicles worldwide. The paint work on these frames are just beautiful. Santa Cruz operates at the highest standard, and the finish work affirms their craft.
There are 12 frame sets available, some sizes only have 1 or 2 pieces. Proceeds help support the 2016 MASH CX team racing program. We have the full kit available from Castelli. We love loud bikes and kits for CX, and Al smashed it with this seasons offering.

Santa Cruz is helping us generate bikes for the team, race entry fees and gas by selling a select number of the frame sets, and we are grateful to be the exclusive shop for this art collaboration.
There are 12 frame sets available total, some sizes only have 1 or 2 pieces. Proceeds help support the 2016 MASH CX team racing program. We are have the full kit available from Castelli. We love loud bikes and kits for CX, and Al smashed it with this seasons offering.
Derek’s Build:

Frame – Santa Cruz Stigmata CC size 56 in custom MASH paint

Wheels – Enve M50 rims with chris king ISO hubs

This CC-level carbon frame is every bit as stiff and strong as Santa Cruz’s C-level frame, but weighs about 280 grams less, due to the use of some lighter, stronger, and more expensive carbon fiber. Using this material in key places uses less material overall, which is what shaves off more than half a pound from the frame.

BASP 2 2016

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With the 2016/17 Bay Area CX season in full swing, and aligned with our Indian summer, racers met out at Candlestick State Park for BASP #2 of the series. This State Park is along the waterfront, next to a pile of dirt that used to house the local football team. Dry dirt, tall grasses and pungent fennel set the vibe here, and we like it. With a day of racing bikes and hanging out with friends ahead of us, the stage was set for the Bay Area Super Prestige Series.Proving we have evolved as a species, everyone found shade early in the day.Eddy crashed the day before, so was volunteering with registration and holding down the watermelon.Juniors to the start. Go get it kids!The Juniors finished up as the Elite A Women lined up. Just in time to catch this little dude running his mechanical to the line. Good hustle.Sean Mon had fans dressing up like their favorite racer and screaming his name.Let’s race bikesSinglespeeders on course with Brandon soaking up the mid-pack dust.Cubby is racing a prototype Low SSCX with cantis. Super nice build.Dylan sitting top three early in the SS As.A few laps later, he flatted. We are working on getting him set up with some tubeless rims for the next one.Brandon Harrison is all in this season. Racing our SSCX with TCB and out of the saddle most of the race.Kel was off the front both days, confirming he put in his work this season and wants to beat you. Brandon in a ripping sprint to the line.Dylan has been working at Specialized where even the lunch ride is competitive. In previous years he’d been a full time student, like Kyle and Walton, which didn’t leave much room for training and racing. Excited to see what this guy can do with a little more freedom in his calendar.KelBrandonWomen’s As on deckChelsea has been training her face off and the results are showing. Moving up from the Cs to As in a few seasons, now a contender for each holeshot and podium.Here are a bunch of photos of her shredding, because she’s so rad.RJ wishing he was racing bikesDylan with a firm understanding of summer.Winning snacksThe A men lined up and several handups sprouted.Derek and Rainier raced both days, so had call ups in the first two rows.Chas racing with TCB, cornering a sand pile, then heading out to the back of the course.Rainier was in for a podium finish. Dylan offering water with one lap to go.Chas left it all out there. Yard saleNext weekend is the night race. Check our calendar for the full schedule. See you out there!

CLIF CYKELSCRAMBLE 2016

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Saturday was the second year Clif threw an event called CykelScramble (pronounced sickle for sure, so there is room to grow there) in San Rafael. They took over the Marin County Fairgrounds and built this crazy race course with wall rides, tables, spines, rock gardens, swinging sand bags, logs, and on down the list. Teams of four signed up to race one bike in a relay.
The event brought out a diverse/rad group of Bay Area locals of all ages, all hopped up on bicycles. OG Marin clunkers, BMX shredders, pro XC and even DH racers like Rat Boy. And us for some reason.

Some people got weird and that was nice.
We did the green screen thing, not for the day’s events, but for what you, the viewer can now do to these photos. Please send to info@mashsf.com and we will make a new post.
 Dylan, Brandon, Jean, and Matt did not know what they where getting in for when they agreed to get in the van at 7:30 that morning.


The course was pretty challenging, so the conditions made for some highs and lows.
Stoked to have Matt Reyes out for the day. He could have competed on his FG no question. We chose a 26-inch BMX for the relay race. A full squish XC bike ended up being the winning format.

Down, but not out
E.T.
Someone got knocked out cold, but came around and was okay.

Matt spine tap crossing
Jake with the spine transfer
Matt shot some fake polaroids

Rad to see generations out there being stoked on being stoked.
The race started with a wheelbarrow stretch. We came in mid-pack.
Matt and Brandon had clean bike handoffs.

Guy is rad

Guy, Cubby,  Jake, and Danny raced on 20-inch bmx bikes, and crushed it, and got a little crushed. Sixth in the Roasters for the day.
Banked berm
Brandon in the rocks
The Bruce Lee style Ninja team had some rippers on it. Look them up on the Cykel Scramble site.
Jean got blood on the outside

Cubby

Cubby about to shoot out of the vert wall ride.
These dudes won, but we both lost for costume originality.

New track drops this fall. See you next year!

MM

CROSS VEGAS USAC MEN’S AND WOMEN’S RACES 2016

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It’s no surprise that San Franciscans are weather wimps. With the fog moisturizers, vitamin D, and temporal temps, I/we are a little soft in the Southwest deserthellscape that is Las Vegas. In traditional MASH fashion, all the team support came together just in time for Cross Vegas 2016. Last year our energy was focused on the 10 Year Anniversary, so the Cross team did not get the care they deserved, and had their best season to date. To make up for it, this year they signed up with friends at Santa Cruz, ENVE, Chris King, Sell Italia, and Ritchey, along with  powerhouses that have cheered with us forever, Oakley, Giro, Clif, and Castelli. The collective stepped up the quality of bikes and soft goods, so the athlete could focus on racing bikes.

The desert Breeze sports complex offers up a large piece of grass real estate, banked on 4 sides shaped like a drainage ditch. It allows for some elevation changes, and off-camber switches, mixed with some wood obstacles, and endless course tape to cross the state of Nevada.

Derek Yarra was on course for the USAC Men’s race.

A storm kept the 4:00PM race a little cooler, and breezy.

Rainier started on the back row of a 100 person field.

No shortage of vibes from the racers and the crowd.

Chelsea took the holeshot in the Women’s USAC race.


Rainier caught in the sandpit. It took 5 hours of racing to clear a center line that was rideable.





2 to go!
Chelsea wishing we had Tri skinsuits for Septembers.

You dudes recover? See you next weekend!

CROSS VEGAS WORLD CUP CX 2016

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Another summer is brought to a close, and for West Coast Cyclocross, we see Cross Vegas as the kickoff for the race season. The event has grown over the years, becoming the staple for the bike industry on a Wednesday night in Las Vegas. The UCI World Cup took it to another level, with pros traveling from around the world to get in on the action. Our shop team races at the USAC level (more on those races in a future post) and as fans of the sport, we love being able to see an event of this magnitude piggyback an industry event, Interbike. For a few decades of my life I worked as a “professional” photographer. It was my career and I have spoken about how the art process that I fell in love with was then tarnished when it became a job. MASH saved me in that way. Just shooting what/when I wanted, and sharing with a community that I am really stoked to be a part of. I don’t get a press pass at these events and wander as I please, oftentimes getting yelled at along the way. This is fun to me, and because I’m happy, I enjoy shooting photos of shit that I am way into. I did not get the name of the shooter pictured above, seeing him, with his 12 shot rolls, and waistlevel finder got me stoked. It’s bike racing, what’s the hurry? Enclosed are some photos of the Women’s and Men’s UCI races for the night.

The call ups included many national champions from Europe.
Ellen Noble (USA) in the Rapha kit would later pull on the under-23 women leader’s jersey.
No doping. No handups.
Powerbraid by the night’s Elite women winner, Sophie De Boer.
The intensity during staging is incredible.

Would anyone ride the long uphill sand?

The American women are contenders in this Euro-dominated discipline. Katie Compton is a big reason why and finished third.
Broadcast (or more likely streaming) live worldwide.



Laurens Sweeck has a rep for pushing the pace early but not quite to the end. In this race he finished on the podium.

Roost

Cross Vegas started as a nighttime alternative to gambling, strips clubs and bars during Interbike. After a string of successful events it was upgraded to World Cup status. Putting the US on the muddy cyclocross map, even though its in the middle of the desert.
The world champ made his move in the sand and left the pack in his cloud.

Superman

22 and still growing.
Jpow finished sixth at last year’s event, the highest USA World Cup finish ever.
This year he was the top placing American at 18th.
After stumbling on the stairs, breaking his toe, chasing back and winning solo. Cross is here!“McTubbin” Tobin Ortenblad is someone we’ve raced with in NorCal for years. So stoked to see him riding strong at the highest level.

Words: Mike Martin and Brandon Reif
Photos: Mike Martin

Shred N Out

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Matt Reyes shot some really beautiful moments between heats at the TCB Shred N Out CX elimination race last week. Check his full post HERE!

RIDE ALONG WITH CHELSEA WEIDINGER

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“I’d already set the goal in my head that I was going to be the first girl on MASH. I don’t know how it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen.” – Chelsea Weidinger
Jen wrote a nice interview with Chelsea over at The Radavist. Check in for the full story!